Stylus

ABSTRACT

An exemplary stylus includes a housing, a stylus body, a latching element and an elastic element. The housing has a receptacle defined therethrough. The stylus body is rotatably assembled to the receptacle. The latching element is slidably accommodated in the receptacle, the latching element is configured for interacting with the stylus body so that the stylus body rotates relative to the housing about an axis and the latching element moves linearly along another axis. The elastic element is resisted between the housing and the latching element, the elastic element is used for accumulating an elastic force with rotation of the stylus body relative to the housing and the movement of the latching element.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent applications(Attorney Docket Nos. US33389, US33390 and US33393), all entitled“STYLUS”, and all invented by Liang et al. All these relatedapplications have the same assignee as the present application and havebeen concurrently filed herewith. The above-identified applications areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This exemplary disclosure generally relates to styluses.

2. Description of Related Art

It is well-known that a variety of devices include a touch screen.Examples of such devices include smart phones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, personal organizers, and the like. Thesedevices typically include a display module under the touch screen. Thedisplay module generates target images associated with menu options,programs, user choices, and other operations. The user controls thedevice by pressing the touch screen over the target image with a stylus.However, stylus bodies of typical styluses are stiff or rigid, and maynot be convenient to use.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the exemplary stylus can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the variousdrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead beingplaced upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary stylus.Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the diagrams.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an exemplary stylus.

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the stylus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the stylus shown in FIG. 2 along theline III-III, and wherein the stylus is in a retracted state.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3, but wherein the stylus is in a tiltedstate.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the stylus shown in FIG. 2 along theline V-V.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this exemplary embodiment, the stylus is used to contact a touchscreen display of an electronic device such as a mobile telephone. Themobile telephone described herein is a representation of the type ofwireless communication device that may benefit from the exemplaryembodiment. However, it is to be understood that the exemplaryembodiment may be applied to any type of handheld or portable deviceincluding, but not limited to, the following devices: radiotelephones,cordless phones, paging devices, personal digital assistants, portablecomputers, pen-based or keyboard-based handheld devices, remote controlunits, portable media players (such as an MP3 or DVD player) that havewireless communication capability, and the like. Accordingly, anyreference herein to the mobile telephone should also be considered toapply equally to other portable wireless electronic devices.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the stylus 100 includes a housing 10, ashell 20 mounted in the housing 10, a stylus body 30 rotatably mountedto one end of the shell 20, a latching element 40 elastically latchingwith the stylus body 30, a resisting element 50 mounted to another endof the shell 20, and an elastic element 60 located between the latchingelement 40 and the resisting element 50. The stylus body 30 is rotatablymounted to the shell 20 by a pin 70, and two ends of the pin 70 areretained to the housing 10 to mount the shell 20 to the housing 10. Theresisting element 50 is mounted to the shell 20 by a post 80.

The housing 10 is hollow, and longitudinally defines a receptacle 12therethrough. The housing 10 further includes two aligned retainingholes 14 defined at one end thereof. The retaining holes 14 are forretaining the pin 70 to the housing 10.

The shell 20 is tubular and has generally the same shape as, but isslightly smaller than, the receptacle 12 of the housing 10—so that theshell 20 can be accommodated in the receptacle 12. The shell 20 includesa compartment 24 longitudinally defined therethrough for accommodatingthe latching element 40 and the elastic element 60. One end of the shell20 transversely defines two aligned troughs 222 for retaining the post80 therein, two aligned positioning slots 2242 for positioning theresisting element 50 therein, and two aligned guiding grooves 2244 forguiding the latching element 40 to slide relative to the shell 20.Another end of the shell 20 transversely defines two apertures 226 forretaining the pin 70 therein. When the shell 20 is located in thehousing 10, the apertures 226 are aligned with the retaining holes 14.

The stylus body 30 includes a joint 32, a link 34 protruding from thejoint 32, and a tip 36 positioned at a distal end of the link 34. Thejoint 32 is substantially spherical; and defines an orifice 322 forengagingly receiving the pin 70, and a latching recess 324 forlatchingly receiving the latching element 40. The tip 36 is for touchinga touch panel of an electronic device (not shown).

The latching element 40 includes a resisting board 42 resisting theelastic element 60, a latching portion 44 protruding from one end of theresisting board 42 for latching in the latching recess 324, two slidingblocks 46 oppositely protruding from a periphery of the resisting board42, and a retaining portion 48 protruding from another end of theresisting board 42. The latching portion 44 is sized and shaped to latchwith the latching recess 324, so that the stylus body 30 is held in aretracted state like that shown in FIG. 3. The latching portion 44 canslide out of the latching recess 324 so that the stylus body 30 canstand in a tilted state like that shown in FIG. 4. Each sliding block 46is slidably accommodated in one of the guiding grooves 2244, so that thelatching element 40 can slide relative to the shell 20. The retainingportion 48 is received in a bottom end of the elastic element 60, forholding the elastic element 60 in position.

The resisting element 50 includes a plate 52 for resisting the elasticelement 60, a protrusion 54 protruding from one surface of the plate 52,and two positioning blocks 56 oppositely protruding from a peripheralwall of the plate 52. The protrusion 54 defines a securing hole 542 forsecuring the resisting element 50 to the shell 20. When the resistingelement 50 is accommodated in the shell 20, the securing hole 542 isaligned with the troughs 222, and the post 80 is tightly fitted in thesecuring hole 542 and the troughs 222 so that the resisting element 50is firmly mounted to the shell 20. Each positioning block 56 is locatedin one of the positioning slots 2242 so that the resisting element 50can precisely mounted to the shell 20.

The elastic element 60 is located between the latching element 40 andthe resisting element 50. The elastic element 60 exerts a force on thelatching element 40, causing the latching element 40 to slide relativeto the shell 20 so that the latching element 40 slides toward the stylusbody 30. Thereby, the latching portion 44 latches in latching recess 324and resists against the joint 32 of the stylus body 30. The elasticelement 60 may be an expansion spring, a compression spring, or anelastic band. One elastic element 60 is shown in this embodiment.However, it is understood that a plurality of elastic elements 60 mayinstead be used.

Referring to FIG. 1-3, in assembly, the latching element 40 is receivedin the shell 20 and each sliding block 46 is located in one of theguiding grooves 2244. The bottom end of the elastic element 60 isretained around the retaining portion 48 of the latching element 40 andresists the resisting board 42. The resisting element 50 is received inthe shell 20 and the securing hole 542 is aligned with the troughs 222.The post 80 is inserted into the troughs 222 and the securing hole 542to hold the resisting element 50 in the shell 20, and the plate 52resists a top end of the elastic element 60. The shell 20 is inserted inthe receptacle 12, and the apertures 226 are aligned with the retainingholes 14. The joint 32 is inserted in the compartment 24, the orifice322 is aligned with the apertures 226, and the latching recess 324latchingly receives the latching portion 44. The pin 70 is inserted inthe retaining holes 14, the apertures 226 and the orifice 322, toassemble the housing 10, the shell 20 and the stylus body 30 together.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, in operation, the stylus body 30 can rotateabout the pin 70 relative to the shell 20 and the housing 10 so that thestylus body 30 is tilted for convenience of use. In this motion, thelatching portion 44 slides out of the latching recess 324, and thesliding blocks 46 slide in the corresponding guiding grooves 2244 sothat the latching element 40 slides away from the stylus body 30. Thus,the elastic element 60 is compressed to accumulate elastic potentialenergy for providing force to drive the latching element 40 to slideback toward the stylus body 30 until the latching portion 44 latches inthe latching recess 324 once more. Thus, the stylus body 30 is locatedin the retracted state shown in FIG. 3 again.

It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristicsand advantages of the exemplary embodiments have been set forth in theforegoing description, together with details of structures and functionsof various embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changesmay be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, andarrangement of parts within the principles of the exemplary embodimentsto the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the termsin which the appended claims are expressed.

1. A stylus, comprising: a housing having a receptacle definedtherethrough; a stylus body rotatably assembled to the receptacle; alatching element slidably accommodated in the receptacle, the latchingelement configured for interacting with the stylus body so that thestylus body rotates relative to the housing about an axis and thelatching element moves linearly along another axis; and an elasticelement resisted between the housing and the latching element, theelastic element capable of accumulating elastic potential energy withrotation of the stylus body relative to the housing and the movement ofthe latching element.
 2. The stylus as claimed in claim 1, wherein thestylus body defines a latching recess therein; the latching elementincludes a latching portion protruding therefrom, and the latchingportion latches in the latching recess when the stylus is in a retractedstate.
 3. The stylus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the housingtransversely defines two retaining holes therethrough; the stylus bodydefines an orifice therethrough that is aligned with the retainingholes; the stylus further includes a pin, and the pin is tightly fittedin the retaining holes and the orifice to mount the stylus body to thehousing.
 4. The stylus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a shellmounted in the receptacle, wherein the shell longitudinally defines acompartment therethrough, and the latching element is slidablyaccommodated in the compartment.
 5. The stylus as claimed in claim 4,wherein the shell transversely defines two apertures, the apertures arealigned with the retaining holes, and the apertures retain the pintherein.
 6. The stylus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shelltransversely defines two aligned guiding grooves; the latching elementhas two sliding blocks protruding therefrom; and each sliding block isslidably accommodated in one of the guiding grooves to guide thelatching element to slide relative to the housing.
 7. The stylus asclaimed in claim 4, further comprising a resisting element mounted inthe compartment, wherein the elastic element is located between theresisting element and the latching element.
 8. The stylus as claimed inclaim 7, wherein the shell transversely defines two aligned troughs, theresisting element defines a securing hole aligned with the troughs, anda post is tightly fitted in the troughs and the securing holes to mountthe resisting element to the shell.
 9. The stylus as claimed in claim 7,wherein the shell further defines two positioning slots therethrough,the resisting element further includes two positioning blocks protrudingtherefrom; and each positioning block is received in one of thepositioning slots to mount the resisting element to the shell.
 10. Thestylus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stylus body includes a joint,and the latching recess is defined in the joint.
 11. A stylus,comprising: a housing having a receptacle defined therethrough; a shellmounted in the receptacle, the shell defining a compartmenttherethrough; a stylus body accommodated in the compartment and beingcapable of tilting relative to the shell; a latching element slidablyaccommodated in the compartment, the latching element including alatching portion protruding therefrom; and an elastic element providingan elastic force to drive the latching element to slide toward thestylus body so that the latching portion resists against the stylus bodyto hold the stylus body in a retracted position; wherein when the stylusbody tilts relative to the housing, the latching element slides awayfrom the stylus body, and the elastic element is compressed toaccumulate elastic potential energy for providing force to drive thelatching element to slide back toward the stylus body.
 12. The stylus asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the stylus further includes a pin, thestylus body is mounted to the shell by the pin.
 13. The stylus asclaimed in claim 12, wherein the shell transversely defines twoapertures; the stylus body defines an orifice therethrough that isaligned with the apertures; the pin is tightly fitted in the aperturesand the orifice so the stylus body is mounted to the shell.
 14. Thestylus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the housing transversely definestwo retaining holes therethrough which are aligned with the apertures;the pin is further tightly fitted in the retaining holes so the shell ismounted to the housing.
 15. The stylus as claimed in claim 11, whereinthe shell transversely defines two aligned guiding grooves; the latchingelement has two sliding blocks protruding therefrom; each sliding blockslidably accommodated in one of the guiding grooves, to guide thelatching element to slide relative to the shell.
 16. The stylus asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the stylus further includes a resistingelement mounted in the compartment, the elastic element is locatedbetween the resisting element and the latching element.
 17. The stylusas claimed in claim 16, wherein the shell further transversely definestwo aligned troughs, the resisting element defines a securing holealigned with the troughs, a post is tightly fitted in the troughs andthe securing holes so the resisting element is mounted to the shell. 18.The stylus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the shell further defines twopositioning slots therethrough, the resisting element further includestwo positioning blocks protruding therefrom; each positioning block isreceived in one of the positioning slots so the resisting element canprecisely mounted to the shell.
 19. The stylus as claimed in claim 1,wherein the stylus body defines a latching recess therein; the latchingelement has a latching portion protruding therefrom; the latching recesslatches in the latching portion to latch the stylus body in theretracted position.
 20. The stylus as claimed in claim 19, wherein thestylus body includes a joint, the latching recess is defined in thejoint.